Jan. 23, 2014 (Colorado Springs, Colorado) -- Highlighted by 14 players who were members of the gold medalist 2012 U.S. Olympic and/or the 2010 USA World Championship teams, USA Basketball announced today 28 players have been selected for the 2014-2016 USA Men’s National Team pool, from which the 2014 USA World Championship Team and, if the U.S. qualifies, the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected. The USA National Team pool will be fluid; USA Basketball Chairman and National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo may add athletes at any time.

Featuring 11 players from the golden 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, the 2014-16 USA National Team roster includes a total of 12 Olympians who have captured a combined 16 gold medals and two bronze medals, and seven members return from the USA Basketball team that captured the 2010 World Championship.

“This is the first step of building the USA Basketball National Team pool of players for 2014-16. This roster is extremely talented, deep and versatile,” said Colangelo. “We are very fortunate to have 11 of the 12 members who won gold at the London Olympics wanting to be part of the national team program again. To receive that kind of commitment is remarkable and it demonstrates how much it means to our players to represent USA Basketball and their country.

“Continuity and familiarity with international basketball are critical parts in our success, and between our coaching staff and these 28 players we certainly have that. Every one of the selected players has been involved in USA Basketball previously and that speaks to how well our pipeline is working. Because of injuries and circumstances that will develop where players won’t be able to participate, we know we need flexibility with the roster and as we did in 2006-08 and 2010-12, the pool of players will be fluid, so you will see the addition of players as they emerge and as they are needed,” continued Colangelo.

“Our first challenge will be the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup that is being held in Spain. With 24 teams competing for the world title, including host Spain who we have had memorable games against in the last two Olympic gold medal games, we know it will be a challenge to repeat as world champions. In the history of the FIBA World Championships/World Cup, only Brazil (1959 and 1963) and Yugoslavia (1998 and 2002) have won back-to-back titles, so repeating will not be easy and is a challenge we look forward to.”

Returning to national team roster after capturing gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championship are Chandler, Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Durant, Iguodala, Love, Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), and Westbrook.

The 2014-16 USA Basketball National Team coaching staff features USA head coach and Duke University’s Naismith Hall of Fame mentor Mike Krzyzewski. Serving as assistant coaches are USA Basketball and Syracuse University veteran coach Jim Boeheim, Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams.

All 28 selected players possess prior USA Basketball experience. Ten players (Beal, Cousins, Davis, Drummond, Faried, George, Hayward, Irving, Lillard and Thompson) participated this past July in the 2013 USA Basketball Men’s National team mini-camp, while six of the named players (Cousins, George, Hayward, Irving, Leonard, and Thompson) were part of the 2012 USA Select Team that trained against the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

A smaller group of U.S. National Team members will be selected to participate in the 2014 USA National Team’s opening training camp in July. Exact training dates and locations for the USA National Team training in 2014 will be announced at a later date.

2014-16 USA Basketball Men’s National Team Notes:

The 28 NBA players represent 20 NBA teams, with the Golden State Warriors featuring four players (Curry, Iguodala, Lee and Thompson), while teams featuring a pair of players include the Houston Rockets (Harden and Howard), Los Angeles Clippers (Griffin and Paul), New York Knicks (Anthony and Chandler), Oklahoma City Thunder (Durant and Westbrook) and Portland Trail Blazers (Aldridge and Lillard).

Four players earned bronze at the 2006 World Championship (Anthony, Howard, James and Paul).

Two were members of the bronze medalist 2004 U.S. Olympic Team (Anthony and James).
Ten players attended the 2013 USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp (Beal, Cousins, Davis, Drummond, Faried, George, Hayward, Irving, Lillard, and Thompson).

Six players were part of the 2012 USA Select Team that trained against the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team (Cousins, George, Hayward, Irving, Leonard, and Thompson).

Of the 28 players, 25 attended at least one year of college before entering the NBA, three (Chandler, Howard and James) went directly from high school to the NBA.

The 2014-16 USA National Team roster includes the NBA’s top 11 scorers (as of Jan 22, 2014) and 14 of the top 17; seven of the league’s top 11 rebounders; the top two leaders in assists; six of the top 13 in steals; four of the top six in blocked shots; four of the top nine, and eight of the top 20, in field goal percentage; and four of the top 11 in 3-point percentage.

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup

The 2014 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Basketball World Cup will be held Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain. Twenty-four teams will compete in the 2014 World Cup and those teams will be divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each. Preliminary round sites include Bilbao, Granada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Seville, Spain. The eighth-finals, quarterfinals and semifinals will be held in Barcelona and Madrid, and the gold and bronze medal games are being contested in Madrid. The draw to determine the preliminary round groups will be conducted Feb. 3.

Held every four years and considered international basketball’s diamond event, the U.S. has had mixed results in World Championship play.

Featuring a team that averaged just 24.6 years of age, and a team that did not include a player from the gold medalist 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, under the leadership of Colangelo and the coaching of Krzyzewski, the USA accomplished something men’s teams from the United States had failed to do since 1994 - win a FIBA World Championship. The Americans rolled over opponents by an average margin of victory of 24.6 points per game to compile a 9-0 record and win the World Championship title.

Claiming the bronze medal with an 8-1 record in 2006 when the championship was held in Japan, the U.S. collected gold at the 1994 World Championship in Toronto, Canada, with a team comprised of NBA all-stars.

All told, the United States has won 11 medals in World Cup/World Championship play - four gold medals (1954, 1986 1994 and 2010), three silver medals (1950, 1959 and 1982) and four bronze medals (1974, 1990, 1998 and 2006). USA teams have compiled an overall 114-27 win-loss record in the World Championships for an 80.9 winning percentage.

USA Basketball Men's National Team

Colangelo, who also served as Managing Director of the USA Men’s National Team for 2005-2008 and 2009-2012, again heads the USA Basketball Men’s National Team program for 2014-16. On May 23, 2013, Colangelo officially announced that Duke University’s Krzyzewski would return to lead the USA National Team for 2013-16. Boeheim also returned as an assistant coach for a third quadrennium, while rounding out the 2013-16 USA coaching staff was Chicago Bulls head coach Thibodeau and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Williams.

Over the course of the 2014-16 quad, USA Men’s National Teams will compete in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup (formerly the FIBA World Championship) Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain; if necessary, participate in the 2015 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD); and if the USA qualifies, compete in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games (Aug. 5-21) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Since Colangelo and Krzyzewski teamed together in 2006, USA National Teams have compiled a spectacular 62-1 record over the seven years, and won gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship, and 2007 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Just as importantly as the USA’s success on the court, the duo has helped reestablished the USA National Team and its members as positive ambassadors for the United States and the sport.

The USA National Team program between 2006 and 2008 compiled a striking 36-1 overall win-loss record in official FIBA and FIBA Americas competitions, and exhibition games. The USA culminated the 2005-08 quadrennium by finishing 8-0 to reclaim the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the USA’s first gold in a major international competition since 2000. The USA National Team also won gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship with a 10-0 record to qualify the U.S. men for the 2008 Olympic Games. In the program’s first year, the U.S. captured the bronze medal with an 8-1 record at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

With Colangelo and Krzyzewski returning to lead the USA Basketball National Team for 2009-12, the national program compiled a perfect 26-0 win-loss record and won gold medals at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2012 London Olympics.

Since first fielding in 1992 a team of legendary NBA stars, USA Basketball national teams comprised of NBA players have claimed gold medals in 12 of 15 major international basketball competitions, while compiling an impressive 117-7 overall record (.944 winning percentage) in those competitions, and posting a record of 42-1 (.977 winning percentage) in exhibition games.